Five Questions with Mike Solis of Outshined

Mike Solis and Joe Padilla, formerly of Lazarus Tomb, joined
forces with Saul Montes of In Trance, and Adrian Saenz, to
form
Outshined. We phoned Mike as he was getting off his job
parking cars at the University of Phoenix at Santa Teresa.

1EPMS: What's new with Outshined?

Mike Solis: We're doing the Balloon Festival on the 30th,
which is Monday. I think we're the opening band. We're trying to get
ready to hit the circuit more. It's tough, because a lot of bars are
hesitant to hire new bands. We try to tell them we aren't new, that we've
all been around a long time. Hopefully we'll get June filled up.

EPMS: How did you get the Balloon Festival gig? I know
a lot of bands wanted those spots.

Mike Solis: We all came from different bands; the
drummer came from In Trance, me and Joe, the bass player, came from
Lazarus Tomb. When we were playing with Lazarus Tomb, we had contact
from Glenn Garza at KLAQ. We kept nagging him, so he had enough
confidence in us to give us a shot. It paid off for us, and we
got the call.

The material in Outshined is different from Lazarus Tomb. We're playing
newer rock; hopefully people will like that.

2EPMS: Let me ask you a question: You're a lion, and
you've got a thorn in your paw, and you're really pissed off. A mouse
passes nearby, and you grab him, you're about to squeeze his little
head off, but he tells you if you let him go, he'll pull the thorn out
of his foot. You think he's probably just going to run away if you
let him go. What do you do?

Mike Solis: I'd probably let him go. Then, I'd hire
some hyena to go out and get him.

3EPMS: OK, now let's say you're a mouse, you're hiding
in the bushes, and you see a lion with a thorn in his paw. Do you
leave the bushes to try and help him out, or stay in the bushes like
a weenie?

Mike Solis: I'd probably stay in the bushes, and
watch him suffer like he makes other guys suffer.

4EPMS: What is the best job, outside of playing music,
that you've ever had?

Mike Solis: Probably this one. I'm a System
Administrator at the University of Phoenix. I do networking and
desktop support. I'm more on the desktop, that's where the majority
of our problems are.